Ucf's Carter: 'Future Is Limitless'

The University of Central Florida has found a non-stop optimist to direct its men's basketball team, a man who can find a silver lining in a program that doesn't have two nickels to rub together.

Phil Carter, who formerly coached at Daytona Beach Community College and most recently was an assistant at Hardin-Simmons University in Texas, spent his first day on the job at UCF Monday and was introduced to the local media at a morning news conference.

He said he was not concerned about the Knights' severe money problems or the fact that only five players remain from last year's 10-18 team. For Carter, it was a day to think positively.

''I think that the future and the possibilities here are limitless,'' he said. ''I'm not leery at all. There probably will be a lot of late nights and winters when I'll question myself more than now . . . but I think we can build a competitive team.''

In Carter, 33, the Knights appear to have a hard worker who has developed extensive recruiting contacts throughout the South.

Also, Carter is said to be easy to get along with and experienced in dealing with small budgets. Those were pluses for Carter, UCF associate athletic director Cal Miller said.

''Personally and professionally, I was very impressed,'' Miller said of Carter. ''The fact that he is experienced with budgets such as ours and is willing and will work within our budgets was a very big asset for him.''

UCF, which has incurred an athletic department deficit of nearly $1 million, plans to spend very frugally over the next few years. That means Carter will have to forgo any thoughts of immediately building a big-time program.

Constructing a Top 20 team is what former coach Chuck Machock set out to do, but it brought him nothing but frustration and a 25-31 record over two seasons.

Carter said he will take a different approach. He said he will build his schedule around games with Florida schools and that UCF would play nearly all of its home games on campus, as opposed to the larger Orange County Convention and Civic Center.

Carter also said that he would do most of his recruiting in Central Florida.

''I'm going to be working with the understanding of what we're up against,'' Carter said. ''I feel like we can get a lot out of what's here. There are a lot of coaches who would like to have this job and I am one of them.''

Miller said 156 applied for the job. Carter, Virginia Tech assistant Bob Schneider and former Rollins coach Mark Freidinger were the finalists.

Freidinger withdrew his name from consideration, leaving UCF to choose between Carter and Schneider.

The first task for Carter will be to find some players. He said that can be done, even though nearly all of the top high school seniors have been taken.